Dear Members of the Greenburgh Town Board,
While the recent tragic accident on East Hartsdale Avenue has put a renewed focus on safety within the Town, for the past ten months, the ECC has been working on a comprehensive traffic and pedestrian safety initiative led by our renewed Traffic, Sidewalks, and Safety Committee. So far, this process has included 12 interactive, neighborhood-specific online work sessions and five surveys with 632 total responses from residents.
At the ECC meeting this past Monday, September 11th, the ECC had its first reading and discussion on a report drafted over the summer by our Traffic, Sidewalks, and Safety Committee. Through the analysis of the survey data and community feedback, it was clear Fort Hill, Old Army Road, and Ardsley Road were focal points for safety concerns, and because they are such heavily traveled roads, improvement has the opportunity to impact the greatest number of residents.
As a result, this first report focused on these three major roadways in Edgemont, with individual subreports on each of these three roads drafted by community teams of residents that live along each of these roads. I anticipate the ECC will authorize me to submit the full report to you at our October 3rd meeting.
While Fort Hill Road and Old Army Road are entirely Town Roads, Ardsley Road is unique because the portion between the Town border and Central Park Avenue is a County Road, officially County Route 78.
Recognizing that the timeline for the Westchester County budgeting process differs from that of the Town, the ECC Board of Directors at our Monday meeting took the urgent step to unanimously accept the Ardsley Road Team report and adopt the priorities outlined within it.
The priorities for the County portion of Ardsley Road are as follows:
1. Install a continuous sidewalk along one side of Ardsley Road from Old Army Road to Central Avenue, with initial completion of the stretch between Old Army and Seely Place.
2. Fund a professional study to evaluate the safety of the Ardsley Road/Seely Place crossing and the viability and safety of adding a new crosswalk at Ardsley Road/Greenville Church.
3. Fund a professional study to evaluate the safety of the existing crosswalks at Edgemont Road and Lynwood Road and the viability and safety of adding new crosswalks at the Ardsley Road/Old Army intersection.
4. Maintain the catch basins more regularly and fund a professional study to evaluate the adequacy of the stormwater sewer system.
5. Prohibit 18-wheeler trucks on Ardsley Road from Scarsdale Village to Central Avenue.
6. Maintain the shoulder along the eastbound side of the road (down the hill) between Overton Road and the town border at Lynwood. During the summer months, weeds and shrubs often become overgrown along this segment and obscure traffic signs.
As I did yesterday at the Town Board meeting, I am asking you to join the Edgemont Community Council in supporting these priorities by writing a letter to our County leadership endorsing these safety improvements on the County portion of Ardsley Road.
I look forward to returning at the October 11th Town Board meeting to share more about our traffic and pedestrian safety initiative, our analysis of Fort Hill Road and Old Army Road, and the safety priorities for these Town roads that we hope we can work together on.
I appreciate your consideration and look forward to working together to make Edgemont and Greenburgh as safe as possible for our residents.
Sincerely,
Dylan F. Pyne, President of the Edgemont Community Council
Cc:
● Greenburgh Police Chief Kobie Powell
● Greenburgh Police Sergeant Benjamin Fontanilles, Commanding Officer of Traffic and Safety Unit
● Greenburgh Commissioner of Community Development & Conservation Garrett Duquesne
● Greenburgh Commissioner of Public Works Richard Fon
● Westchester County Executive George Latimer
● Westchester County Legislator David Imamura